The Technicians Responsible Were Reaching the Stage in Life When the Can- Dles Were Costing More Than Their Birthday Cakes
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
NEWSLETTER FOR COACHES NO 48 | FEBRUARY 2011 Sir Alex Ferguson Coaching’s Golden Age he Chinese have a proverb which illustrates the value of experience: T“If you want to know the road ahead, ask someone who has travelled it.” This statement supports Marcello Lippi’s view on coaching at the top level: “The players must feel that they have a secure and strong guide.” Certainly, success in international competitions seems to be the preserve of those who have travelled a long way in the game. Consider the last three winners of the EURO – Luis Aragonés of Spain was three weeks short of his 70th birthday when he won the title in 2008, Otto Rehhagel was about to turn 66 when he led Greece to gold in 2004, and four years earlier, Roger Lemerre, a comparative young- ster, was just short of his 60th birthday when he secured the Euro- pean crown for France. Europe has won three out of the last four World Cups and the technicians responsible were reaching the stage in life when the can- dles were costing more than their birthday cakes. Vicente Del Bosque (Spain), Marcello Lippi (Italy) and Aimé Jacquet (France) were all in the 57 to 60 age bracket and were very experienced campaigners. During the FIFA final tournaments, all three were subjected to intense pressure and moments of crisis, but their ability to see the bigger picture, to remain calm in the media storm and to use their years of leadership know-how proved decisive. Vicente Del Bosque explained his leadership philosophy at a recent UEFA conference and offered words of wisdom to his coaching colleagues about the need to be more than just a coach when he said: “If you only know about football, you are lost.” Thus, coaching at the summit, as illustrated by our World Cup winners, requires a well-rounded personality, someone who has an extensive knowledge of life as well as the game. The coaches who have reached the knockout stage of this season’s UEFA Champions League represent an interesting mix of mature statesmen, those in coaching’s golden age, and a younger generation of high fliers. Half of the 16 coaches are over 50 years old, while the others – with the exception of the ‘youthful’ 39-year-old Unai Emery of Valencia CF – are in their forties. Football teams benefit from having a good blend of youth and experience. The same applies to the UEFA Champions League coaching fraternity, which offers a gifted group of blossoming technicians, such as José Mourinho of Real Madrid CF and Pep Guardiola of FC Barcelona, in tandem with long- standing maestros such as Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United FC, Arsène Wenger of Arsenal FC and Louis van Gaal of FC Bayern München. Of course, coaching at the top level needs new blood, new ideas and new Empics Sport energy, because the game must continue to evolve. But some coaches are like fine wine – they improve with age. The senior stars of the technical area are living proof that wisdom and experience are valuable assets when operating at the highest level. As long as they retain their health and their enthusiasm, there is no reason why they cannot continue to compete with the best and be In this issue role models for those who are still making their way up the coaching ladder. When we talk about success in football, longevity should be recognised and The Technician Interview: celebrated. Double UEFA Champions League winner Sir Alex Ferguson pro- Takeshi Okada 2 vides today’s technicians with an impressive benchmark – he is a wonderful Added Value 6 example of someone who is both a winner and a survivor. The Barça Boys 8 Andy Roxburgh, Great Expectations 10 UEFA Technical Director Tribute to Enzo Bearzot 12 2 The Technician Interview By Andy Roxburgh, UEFA Technical Director orn in Osaka, Japan, Takeshi Okada was a useful great achievement for the new Italian coach. However, Bdefender in his time, but his fame in football has the man who built the foundations and raised the World come from his exploits as a coach at club and na- Cup profile of the Japanese team is the articulate, tional level. He started out at JEF United (the club that thoughtful and successful… Jozef Vengloš once coached) as an assistant in the early 1990s. Then he was promoted to assistant with the national team and took over as head coach during the qualifying campaign for the 1998 World Cup. He Takeshi Okada steered the team past Iran and into the finals in France. Between 1999 and 2006 he had Japanese League Before the World Cup in South Africa you were club jobs at Sapporo and Yokohama Marinos and was subjected to intense pressure. How did you cope with voted manager of the year in 2003 and 2004. Following that and how did you protect your team? title winning seasons, he returned to the national team Yes, there was a great deal of criticism, particularly from in 2007 and took the Samurai Blues to the World Cup the media before the World Cup in South Africa. Most of it in South Africa. His excellent work there, taking Japan was directed at me and not at the team and I was happy to the second round and only losing on penalties to to take the pressure away from the players. I wanted to Paraguay, earned him the title of Asian Coach of the protect them as much as I could. Also, I said to the players Year 2010. Alberto Zaccheroni took over the Japanese that we had to believe together in what we were doing. squad in October 2010 and proceeded to win the The media, in a way, was like an opponent and we had to Asian Cup in Qatar at the beginning of this year – a shield ourselves against all external forces. During the qualifying competition for the 1998 World In training before the World Cup finals in South Africa Cup, my boss was fired and I took over. Everyone said we had no chance, but we managed to beat Iran, our last chance to get to the World Cup, and to qualify. I was Getty Images under enormous pressure, but I understood that I could only do my best. The ultimate responsibil- ity was with the president, because he chose me. My attitude was to focus on the task at hand and let others worry about the future. After the final qualifying game against Iran, which we won, my character changed – it was a defining mo- ment for me and Japanese foot- ball. On a personal level, the sup- port of my family was crucial. Even when things were difficult, the fam- ily always gave me their full backing and this helped me enormously to cope with the various pressures. Also, like Marcello Lippi, I went scuba diving in order to have an- other interest. It is important to have other things in your life apart from football. Without the Nakamura, Honda and Endo have thrilled every- family, I could not have handled the job of national one with their brilliant free kicks. What is the se- 3 coach. cret of their success? There is no doubt that the role models provided by How has Japanese football developed since your Zico, Stojkovic and other foreign stars had a major influ- involvement in the 1998 World Cup in France? ence on our current players when they were growing up. During the last decade Japanese football has devel- The use of artificial walls and constant practice has paid oped a lot. One thing that has helped is the number of dividends, as was proved in South Africa when we scored Japanese players who have been playing abroad. We have with two direct free-kicks in the same match, against always had skill, heart and fitness, but the exposure to the Denmark. First, it was Honda with this magnificent left- top level has definitely helped. This also applies at inter- foot shot and then, just over ten minutes later, Endo with national youth level. The J-League has continued to provide a Zico-style right-footer. Of course, in Europe you were a good competitive environment but it is the experience of international football that has raised the standard. We still get foreign players in the J-League, but not of the level we UEFA had in the past, when players such as Zico and Stojkovic came here. Those former superstars made a big impres- sion on our young players. We have rules in the J-League about the number of non-Japanese players from Asia and from the rest of the world that guarantee that there are club places for some of our own talents. Certain key posi- tions are taken by the foreign players and this can create problems. It will be similar to the situation that Fabio Capello encounters in England. Overall, though, I think the confidence of the Japanese player has improved in recent years and this has made us more competitive at the top level. Takeshi Okada in conversation with UEFA’s technical director, Andy Roxburgh, at a conference in Japan As AFC Coach of the Year 2010, what is your view about coach education in the Far East? already aware of Honda because he produced the same We are very well organised in coach education in for CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League. Lots Japan, but we have a problem of culture. Japanese stu- of practice, no doubt, but seeing those images of Zico dents expect to be taught and wait to be taught.